The Braves will host the Reds in the best-of-three wild-card round at Truist Park, beginning Wednesday. The winner will advance to the NLDS, which will be held in Houston as part of the MLB’s postseason bubble.
Cincinnati was locked into the No. 7 seed when the Cardinals defeated the Brewers 5-2 on Sunday. This will be the first time the Braves and Reds have faced off in the postseason since 1995, when the Braves swept the Reds in the NLCS in route to the World Series title.
It won’t be an easy task for the Braves: The Reds have a three-headed monster atop their rotation in Cy Young favorite Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray. The Braves are expected to line up their rotation as Max Fried, Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright.
“Their starting pitching is really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s really good. They’re hot and they’re playing well. It’s like I say, it’s anybody’s game when this thing starts.”
The Braves haven’t faced the Reds since Aug. 1-4, 2019, at Truist Park, when the teams split four games.
Before the series begins, the Braves will hold optional workouts Monday and a team workout about noon Tuesday.
